I am currently using a plastic bucket as my primary fermenter for 6 gallon
wine kits. Part way through process on my first kit, which is also my first
batch of wine, so still learning.

Anyway, I chose a Vintner's Reserve Merlot kit. Hopefully it will turn out
passable, will see. But my concern is that I washed out primary after I had
racked to secondary(following instructions supplied by local shopowner,
rather than those that came with kit). But even after a pretty good wash
wish dish soap,a nd then multiple rinses with hot tap water(and I run my
water heater pretty hot), the fermenter still smells noticably of merlot.
My concern is as to whether or not this will adversely affect the wine if I
try another kit in here, particularly if I go with a white wine for the next
batch. I am also doing smaller 1 gallon batches of various
concentrate/fruit wines as I go(have two in open fermentation right now),
but would also like to continue working with the kits too(and progressively
go to better kits, and longer time making them and aging them to increase
the quality of final product). Just want to know if I should have at least
two primary fermenters(one for whites, one for reds), even more, for variosu
families of tastes, or if the single fermenter will be fine. A slight hint
of taste/bouquet of merlot doesn't bother me at all, just don't want it to
be so overpowering that it will ruin a batch of say chardonnay.

Anyway, sorry for babbling on, just found this newsgroup, and have read all
the messages my server stored(going to hit newsgroup on google now to go
back farther), and I figured this would be a good place to ask, trying to
limit trips to local shop, I keep spending money when I go there.

Joel

Joel Sprague wrote:
> I am currently using a plastic bucket as my primary fermenter for 6 gallon
> wine kits. Part way through process on my first kit, which is also my first
> batch of wine, so still learning.
>
> Anyway, I chose a Vintner's Reserve Merlot kit. Hopefully it will turn out
> passable, will see. But my concern is that I washed out primary after I had
> racked to secondary(following instructions supplied by local shopowner,
> rather than those that came with kit). But even after a pretty good wash
> wish dish soap,a nd then multiple rinses with hot tap water(and I run my
> water heater pretty hot), the fermenter still smells noticably of merlot.
> My concern is as to whether or not this will adversely affect the wine if I
> try another kit in here, particularly if I go with a white wine for the next
> batch. I am also doing smaller 1 gallon batches of various
> concentrate/fruit wines as I go(have two in open fermentation right now),
> but would also like to continue working with the kits too(and progressively
> go to better kits, and longer time making them and aging them to increase
> the quality of final product). Just want to know if I should have at least
> two primary fermenters(one for whites, one for reds), even more, for variosu
> families of tastes, or if the single fermenter will be fine. A slight hint
> of taste/bouquet of merlot doesn't bother me at all, just don't want it to
> be so overpowering that it will ruin a batch of say chardonnay.
>
> Anyway, sorry for babbling on, just found this newsgroup, and have read all
> the messages my server stored(going to hit newsgroup on google now to go
> back farther), and I figured this would be a good place to ask, trying to
> limit trips to local shop, I keep spending money when I go there.
>
> Joel

Plastic will pick up smells, so what you've observed is normal. I
wouldn't worry about using that fermenter for different wines, but I
wouldn't use the same fermented for beer and wine.

Dish soap won't remove smells. Try soaking in bleach solution and then
washing several times with warm water, that should do the trick.

Pp

"pp" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Dish soap won't remove smells. Try soaking in bleach solution and then
> washing several times with warm water, that should do the trick.

FWIW, I recommend keeping bleach well away from all wine equipment that
can't be *thoroughly* rinsed. IOW, glass and metal are OK for bleach
treatment. Plastics (at least the ones that tend to trap odors) and wood
are not OK for bleaching.

As a rule of thumb, anything porous or permeable should never see bleach
before use in winemaking.

Tom S

Thanks for the input, both of you. I still avhe a while before I'll be
starting my second batch, but I think I might jsut keep two, one for red's,
and one for whites. Was just looking at website for my local shop, and it
looks like Chuck(the owner), only charges $9-10 bucks for the fermenting
buckets. For that price, i can certainly afford just to keep two around.

Will definitely use the bleach tip on carboys at least though. So thank you
very much. Seems to be a great group here.

Joel
"Tom S" > wrote in message
news
>
> "pp" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Dish soap won't remove smells. Try soaking in bleach solution and then
> > washing several times with warm water, that should do the trick.
>
> FWIW, I recommend keeping bleach well away from all wine equipment that
> can't be *thoroughly* rinsed. IOW, glass and metal are OK for bleach
> treatment. Plastics (at least the ones that tend to trap odors) and wood
> are not OK for bleaching.
>
> As a rule of thumb, anything porous or permeable should never see bleach
> before use in winemaking.
>
> Tom S
>
>

I second Tom's sentiment.
All plastics, hard or soft, which are used for winemaking, except
teflon, absorb bleach (or in the case of polycarbonate = LEXAN causes
surface microcracking)
IMHO (as a chemist/chemical engineer/materials scientist) 'Soaking' in
bleach solution is not recommended. Mind you, the amount of bleach
absorbed won't harm you, but you MIGHT get 'corked' wine (i.e. TCA =
trichloroanisole).

Gene

Tom S wrote:
> "pp" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
>>Dish soap won't remove smells. Try soaking in bleach solution and then
>>washing several times with warm water, that should do the trick.
>
>
> FWIW, I recommend keeping bleach well away from all wine equipment that
> can't be *thoroughly* rinsed. IOW, glass and metal are OK for bleach
> treatment. Plastics (at least the ones that tend to trap odors) and wood
> are not OK for bleaching.
>
> As a rule of thumb, anything porous or permeable should never see bleach
> before use in winemaking.
>
> Tom S
>
>

Very wise decision Joel.

Best of luck,

M Baker

Okay, so what is the preferred method of cleaning plastic primary buckets?

Personally, I scrub best I can with dish soap and a clean scrubby/sponge to
clean my primary, then sanitize it right after cleaning and again right
before use. The white plastic still stains from the reds, and I've never
been able to remove these stains entirely, but they don't seem to have
affected the wines much.



"Joel Sprague" > wrote in message
news:e8dBe.3873$Zt.898@okepread05...
>I am currently using a plastic bucket as my primary fermenter for 6 gallon
> wine kits. Part way through process on my first kit, which is also my
> first
> batch of wine, so still learning.
>
> Anyway, I chose a Vintner's Reserve Merlot kit. Hopefully it will turn
> out
> passable, will see. But my concern is that I washed out primary after I
> had
> racked to secondary(following instructions supplied by local shopowner,
> rather than those that came with kit). But even after a pretty good wash
> wish dish soap,a nd then multiple rinses with hot tap water(and I run my
> water heater pretty hot), the fermenter still smells noticably of merlot.
> My concern is as to whether or not this will adversely affect the wine if
> I
> try another kit in here, particularly if I go with a white wine for the
> next
> batch. I am also doing smaller 1 gallon batches of various
> concentrate/fruit wines as I go(have two in open fermentation right now),
> but would also like to continue working with the kits too(and
> progressively
> go to better kits, and longer time making them and aging them to increase
> the quality of final product). Just want to know if I should have at
> least
> two primary fermenters(one for whites, one for reds), even more, for
> variosu
> families of tastes, or if the single fermenter will be fine. A slight
> hint
> of taste/bouquet of merlot doesn't bother me at all, just don't want it to
> be so overpowering that it will ruin a batch of say chardonnay.
>
> Anyway, sorry for babbling on, just found this newsgroup, and have read
> all
> the messages my server stored(going to hit newsgroup on google now to go
> back farther), and I figured this would be a good place to ask, trying to
> limit trips to local shop, I keep spending money when I go there.
>
> Joel
>
>

I agree with most all advise given above and have stopped using bleach for
anything but glass and then I leave it to dry at least 24 hours.

A plastic bucket is not only absorbing smells, it is absorbing the stuff
that smells. That is where the smell comes from. If wine is absorbed into
the bucket and stored away it can certainly contaminate future batches as
you have the perfect medium to grow mold and bacteria that target wine,
i.e., wine itself. With my plastic buckets I like to give them a very good
wash with cleanser and then a rug down with strong NaMetabisulfite. Then I
pour some in the bottom and seal it overnight. I don't know if all this is
100% necessary and I am not as careful with other utensils, but if my bucket
smells, this is what I do.

Ray

"Matthew Givens" > wrote in message
...
> Okay, so what is the preferred method of cleaning plastic primary buckets?
>
> Personally, I scrub best I can with dish soap and a clean scrubby/sponge
> to clean my primary, then sanitize it right after cleaning and again right
> before use. The white plastic still stains from the reds, and I've never
> been able to remove these stains entirely, but they don't seem to have
> affected the wines much.
>
>
>
> "Joel Sprague" > wrote in message
> news:e8dBe.3873$Zt.898@okepread05...
>>I am currently using a plastic bucket as my primary fermenter for 6 gallon
>> wine kits. Part way through process on my first kit, which is also my
>> first
>> batch of wine, so still learning.
>>
>> Anyway, I chose a Vintner's Reserve Merlot kit. Hopefully it will turn
>> out
>> passable, will see. But my concern is that I washed out primary after I
>> had
>> racked to secondary(following instructions supplied by local shopowner,
>> rather than those that came with kit). But even after a pretty good wash
>> wish dish soap,a nd then multiple rinses with hot tap water(and I run my
>> water heater pretty hot), the fermenter still smells noticably of merlot.
>> My concern is as to whether or not this will adversely affect the wine if
>> I
>> try another kit in here, particularly if I go with a white wine for the
>> next
>> batch. I am also doing smaller 1 gallon batches of various
>> concentrate/fruit wines as I go(have two in open fermentation right now),
>> but would also like to continue working with the kits too(and
>> progressively
>> go to better kits, and longer time making them and aging them to increase
>> the quality of final product). Just want to know if I should have at
>> least
>> two primary fermenters(one for whites, one for reds), even more, for
>> variosu
>> families of tastes, or if the single fermenter will be fine. A slight
>> hint
>> of taste/bouquet of merlot doesn't bother me at all, just don't want it
>> to
>> be so overpowering that it will ruin a batch of say chardonnay.
>>
>> Anyway, sorry for babbling on, just found this newsgroup, and have read
>> all
>> the messages my server stored(going to hit newsgroup on google now to go
>> back farther), and I figured this would be a good place to ask, trying to
>> limit trips to local shop, I keep spending money when I go there.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>>
>
>
>